Elderly man severely beaten during break in

An elderly Princeton man was severely beaten during a break in to his home on Vermilion Avenue that occurred over the weekend.

The victim is 91-years-old and lives alone. He phoned police at 5:50 a.m. Sunday.

“A lone male entered into his residence and assaulted him in there and stole some various items,” said RCMP Corporal Chad Parsons.

The victim was taken to Princeton General Hospital, and later transferred to Penticton.

Parsons said police have a suspect, and they are now searching for that person, who is not being identified at this time.

“We attended with our identification section and police dog and processed the scene for fingerprints and DNA,” he said.

“This investigation is being treated as a high priority.”

Parsons called the attack shocking.

“Who beats up a 91-year-old man in his own house?”

But he cautioned residents against violence and revenge.

“We do have suspects. Allow us to do our jobs and to hold the perpetrator accountable. We can’t have other people going after him and doing the same thing that just happened to somebody else.”

The crime and possible suspects have been subjects of speculation on social media.

“The RCMP is aware of comments being placed on Facebook potentially identifying a suspect. If they do have information that the police need to know they should be telling us not, not posting it on Facebook but reporting it to the police.”